Woman who preyed on elderly given exceptional sentence

King County Superior Court Judge Michael C. Hayden took exception with the calculated crimes Amanda Tucker committed while out on bond.

Tucker, 27, preyed on elderly dementia patients – in some cases robbing them while they stood by helpless in their own residences. When she was arraigned on some charges Sept. 15, she was released after posting $10,000 bond on the promise she wouldn’t commit more crimes.

But her spree continued, and last month Tucker pleaded guilty to 23 felonies. Because she was eligible for a drug offender sentencing alternative, it was possible Tucker could have faced only 36.75 months in jail. That’s what her defense wanted, and that time also could have been reduced by good behavior.

Friday afternoon, however, Judge Hayden found an exceptional basis to go beyond the prosecutor’s seven-year recommendation and sentenced Tucker to 10 years in prison.

After posting bond in September, Tucker continued to steal cars, burglarized another retirement home and other residences, and used at least one victim’s identity. Her crime spree spanned four cities – Seattle, Federal Way, Renton and SeaTac – and Tucker even used a victim’s credit card to buy blonde hair dye.

Those multiple felonies were unacceptable, Hayden said.

“The defendant’s actions are not the actions of a drug addict who acts on impulse to feed her drug habit,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mafé Rajul wrote in a sentencing memo. “Instead, her criminal actions are those of someone who carefully thinks about the best possible target, in this case, the elderly.”

Tucker, a 27-year-old who came here from Alabama, was first arrested by Seattle police on Aug. 29 in a car stolen from Mirabella. Detective Steve Owings realized Tucker had a pattern of burglarizing seniors’ apartments, often when they were home and vulnerable.

She repeatedly told victims she was trying to visit her grandmother and was in the wrong apartment. In at least one case, Tucker claimed she was in a victim’s apartment to check a bathroom alarm.

When she was arrested, Tucker was wearing the earrings she’d stolen from a dementia patient in her 90s.

Federal Way police caught up to her on Nov. 18, arresting her for a burglary at the Emeritus Senior Living facility and cocaine possession.

The state’s drug offender sentencing alternative was designed to stop recidivism by getting drug-addicted criminal into chemical dependency treatment. If requirements are met, it’s up to a judge to determine whether the offender and the community will benefit from an alternative sentence.

Friday afternoon in Tucker’s case, Judge Hayden said it was clear the community would not.